Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Will Have Online Pass

Electronic Arts has sent Game Revolution Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning well in advance, and I've already poured about 14 hours into the action adventure RPG. It surprised me - and yet not surprising at all given EA's track record - that the Xbox 360 version comes with an online pass.

People are right to complain about the idea of an online pass, particularly for a single-player title, that in this case locks seven in-game quests for the House of Valor, which from what I gather is a place where players can partake in gambling and gladitorial battles. It also locks the Mass Effect N7-inspired Shepard's Battle Armor (pictured below).

Of course, I can't access any of this content with the code until the game is fully released, so as a reviewer, I can't be certain of my overall grade until then. Not having access to this gambling arena until I'm something like Level 50 will likely change how I experience the game compared to the common player, who will likely have access throughout the game.

On the other hand, this is hardly the first time we've seen the online pass, notably for Mass Effect 2's Cerberus Network (and probably Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode). It's in Electronic Arts' best interest to have people purchase games new, and having the Mass Effect 3 promotional items will likely boost sales for and interest in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, as it already has for the game's demo.